Mexican Music Fest Roundup: MtyMx Festival of Arts & Music

MtyMx All Ages Festival of Arts & Music March 20-22 2010 Monterrey, Mexico

NY buzz show-promoter Todd P's MtyMx All Ages Festival of Arts & Music, a three-day event in Monterrey, Mexico was scheduled to feature over 80 bands on two stages on the Autocinema Las Torres, an old drive-in movie theater. It didn't exactly go as planned.

​Many bands and attendees were stuck at the border between Texas and Mexico, or waiting on shuttle buses from Austin's SXSW festival to take them to Monterrey. Some waited as long as 24 hours; some never made it. Japan's Acid Mothers Temple got through security, while others weren't so lucky–the Bay Area's Thee Oh Sees tried, yet never made it across the border. One act scheduled to play, Indian Jewelry, was forced to backtrack four hours and wait in an empty parking lot with all its equipment for a bus to arrive before heading back to Monterrey. The group eventually made it over the border and was able to perform. Many other acts canceled last minute because they were afraid for their safety, due to recently announced murders and hijackings a few hundred miles outside of Monterrey.

​It was also a problem arranging 300 military-issued tents for people to sleep in to be transported by bus to a country on high alert. According to one attendee, the tents didn't arrive until 3 a.m. on the first night, so he slept on the ant-infested grass. “Totally worth it,” he said sarcastically.